
Welcome to human, Introductory Human 
Physiology. 
We are about to start our course and I 
just wanted to share a few bits of 
information about the course with you 
before we actually begin. 
The first is is that the course objects 
are going to be that you will acquire the 
terms and concepts of specific areas in 
physiology. 
And secondly, we want to develop an 
integrated framework that you can relate 
structure to function and that you'll be 
able to analyze clinical data and 
physiological data. 
And then be able to predict the body's 
response to change. 
And lastly, we're going to use 
homeostasis and control as themes. 
This physiology is a course which looks 
at the, it's an integrated science, it 
looks at the function of the individual 
organ systems and how they then work with 
each other to maintain the life of the 
organism. 
And because of its integrative 
personality, it is one of the most 
difficult of the human science studies. 
And because of this, we decided to, to 
teach the course from concepts, and the 
specific concepts that we're going to be 
dealing with, are listed here. 
And the ones that we're going to be 
talking about in the first week of the 
course are going to be control systems 
and homeostasis in cell-cell 
communication. 
And then, as we go through the organ 
systems, the individual organ systems, 
we'll come back to specific general 
principles which apply to that particular 
organ system. 
The course format is going to be that we 
will have, each week, lecture videos. 
These lecture videos are 10 to 20 minutes 
in length. 
And you can have anywhere from four to 
six of them per week. 
Secondly, we are going to have in-video 
quizzes or questions which are to help 
you to review the material and then to, 
and to retain the material. 
These are not graded. 
Thirdly, we have lecture notes, and the 
lecture notes actually will help to fill 
out some of the information that we're 
giving through the, through the videos. 
And they're also giving it to you from a 
different format or a different 
perspective. 
And so, we feel that these may be very 
helpful to you. 
And last, and fourth we have problem 
sets. 
The problem sets are not graded, the 
problem sets are for you to test your own 
level of learning and to see whether or 
not you're right on point as you're going 
through the, the individual organ 
systems, and throughout the entire 
course. 
So, lastly, we have an interactive forums 
where you can then exchange information 
with other, other individuals who are 
working within this particular course. 
And, and you can then also address 
specific questions to us, the 
instructors. 
We will be monitoring the forum. 
It would be very difficult for us to 
interact with you directly by e-mail 
because there are so many of you. 
So, we ask that you use the forum to, to 
voice your different questions and ask 
your opinions about the course and what 
you would hope to get from the course. 
Lastly we have exams. 
There are three multiple choice exams and 
they're going to test the application of 
the basic science principles. 
They are not going to be testing rote 
memorization.. 
We are going to give you data and we want 
you to be able to interpret the data. 
These are closed book exams. 
The students that are taking the exams 
are bound by the Coursera honor code. 
It is for, for, it's to test your 
knowledge, not the knowledge of someone 
else. 
Each exam can be taken only once and you 
have 90 minutes to complete the exam once 
it is started. 
The sum of three exam grades will 
determine your final grade in the course 
and we're asking for an overall average 
70% to be a pass, or better. 
And lastly, we are, are going to give 
letters of accomplishment to those who 
request it for those who have 
successfully completed the course. 
So, we hope that you'll enjoy the course. 
We welcome you again to, to introductory 
human physiology, I hope that it will be 
helpful for you and that you will enjoy 
this. 
Bye-bye. 

